1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a toner container and a process cartridge used in an image forming apparatus, such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine having at least two of copying, printing, facsimile transmission, plotting, and scanning capabilities; and the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are electrophotographic image forming apparatuses that employ a toner cartridge, serving as a toner container, which is removably installable in a process cartridge (i.e., an image forming unit) or in the image forming apparatus to supply toner to the image forming apparatus.
Additionally, there are toner cartridges that are installable in the process cartridge or the apparatus and folded and compressed after toner is discharged therefrom into a toner chamber in the process cartridge or the apparatus. Then, the used toner cartridges are kept inside the process cartridge or the apparatus.